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Screen out unknown senders from iPhone Messages

Especially in an election year!!!! If you don’t already do this: you’re welcome in advance. This setting splits your Messages inbox into two: 1) a main window that’s 98% people you know with maybe an occasional mistake text that slips in. 2) a hidden window (that you can always access!) with all the fundraising texts from politicians, survey requests from that one company you bought one thing from, and two-factor authentication codes. Even better, the things that you do need right away (those 2FA six digits, for example) still show up as a regular text notification, but they then sort themselves back into the “unknown senders” window. I’m no longer annoyed by 20 texts a day announcing a new candidate in a race for governor 12 states away from me!

Fleabag

The Masterpiece! I can either leave it there or talk for six hours straight about this show, but honestly, in that time, you could literally watch the whole thing (two seasons of six episodes each) yourself, so just go do that instead. I can’t imagine anyone regretting that.

Amaretti Cookies

I had these at a friend’s house on Saturday and frankly, I can’t believe I held out for five days before I had to make my own batch. I happened to have almond flour and almond extract at home already, so that was lucky, but if you don’t: these cookies are worth the store trip for the right ingredients! They’re crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, not too sweet even though they’re rolled in sugar… just perfection. 👩🏻‍🍳😘👌🏽

“Dumb” Watches

This is for anyone who fell down a smartwatch hole like I did, a hole I happily resided in for many years, with my streaks and alerts and reminders. One day, I realized it felt like the watch was the boss of me, not the other way around, and I didn’t need to feel like that. So I replaced it with a “dumb” watch and it immediately felt right. I still wear my old Apple Watch to track workouts but as soon as I put it on, my stress and annoyance levels climb incrementally with every notification. It’s such a relief to discard it afterwards for something calm and pretty that tells me the time when I look at it instead of news headlines at breakneck speed.

Screen out unknown senders from iPhone Messages

Especially in an election year!!!! If you don’t already do this: you’re welcome in advance. This setting splits your Messages inbox into two: 1) a main window that’s 98% people you know with maybe an occasional mistake text that slips in. 2) a hidden window (that you can always access!) with all the fundraising texts from politicians, survey requests from that one company you bought one thing from, and two-factor authentication codes. Even better, the things that you do need right away (those 2FA six digits, for example) still show up as a regular text notification, but they then sort themselves back into the “unknown senders” window. I’m no longer annoyed by 20 texts a day announcing a new candidate in a race for governor 12 states away from me!

Fleabag

The Masterpiece! I can either leave it there or talk for six hours straight about this show, but honestly, in that time, you could literally watch the whole thing (two seasons of six episodes each) yourself, so just go do that instead. I can’t imagine anyone regretting that.

Amaretti Cookies

I had these at a friend’s house on Saturday and frankly, I can’t believe I held out for five days before I had to make my own batch. I happened to have almond flour and almond extract at home already, so that was lucky, but if you don’t: these cookies are worth the store trip for the right ingredients! They’re crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, not too sweet even though they’re rolled in sugar… just perfection. 👩🏻‍🍳😘👌🏽

“Dumb” Watches

This is for anyone who fell down a smartwatch hole like I did, a hole I happily resided in for many years, with my streaks and alerts and reminders. One day, I realized it felt like the watch was the boss of me, not the other way around, and I didn’t need to feel like that. So I replaced it with a “dumb” watch and it immediately felt right. I still wear my old Apple Watch to track workouts but as soon as I put it on, my stress and annoyance levels climb incrementally with every notification. It’s such a relief to discard it afterwards for something calm and pretty that tells me the time when I look at it instead of news headlines at breakneck speed.